Ikaruga Game Sample - GameCube
0Original Air Date: January 18th, 2010
I've had this game for a long time and bought it somewhat due to word-of-mouth, but I mostly shrugged it off and rarely play it to be honest. A game that revolves around massive point scoring and polarity with survival almost being a secondary focus... eh. It's interesting, but I prefer my "you're gonna die regardless of polarity" shooters more. The game is challenging and incredibly short if you play it like a typical shooter, but given that the game was designed largely with point scoring in mind, you'll likely get laughed at if you play it in such a manner. If you follow the game's methods for racking up points, the game will seem incredibly difficult (or impossible to most) and can last for years, so many shmup fanatics will rave about it I guess.
What can be said of Ikaruga is that it is a very thorough shooter in the sense that the developers (Treasure) fleshed-out everything in the game to make the whole experience, however short or long, feel fulfilling. The game provides various ways to play, from "Bullet/Dot Eater" and "Chain Priority" strategies to "Light vs. Dark" effectiveness to a combination of everything, with various tutorials and methods of playing to optimize your ability to learn levels inside-out.
It's also a pretty spiritual game with a decent underlying plot. Additionally, I am partial (or generous) to games that offer a lot when they are made by few, and the staff that originally developed Ikaruga couldn't get much smaller (You could count the original staff on one hand, though it got more support later in development by G.rev). The character and Mechanical designs are by Yasushi Suzuki, who did designs for Treasure's "Sin and Punishment" for N64.
You play as Shinra, the sole survivng member of the freedom federation called Tenkaku, who pilots a ship known as "Ikaruga" in order to stop Tenro Horai, a man who has gained unimaginable power after digging up the Ubusunagami Okinokai or "The Power of the Gods". Tenro and his followers known as "The Divine Ones" soon began conquering lands in the name of peace and building warmachines with light and/or dark polarity. The Ikaruga and Ginkei (player two, piloted by a female named Kagari whose life was spared by Shinra) are the only ships in control of the good guys that are powerful enough to confront Horai, built with both polarities and capable of changing them at will.
Ikaruga is a simple game in its entirety, but presents a good concept as well that has been duplicated to a small degree in some games and duplicated a lot in others (for instance, the doujin game, Chiyoruga, plays somewhat like Ikaruga's "Prototype" mode with limited bullets and light/dark polarity but with Azumanga characters). You can hurt enemies with either polarity, but take more damage and gain more points with opposites (light on dark and vice=versa). You are invincible against enemy bullets of the same polarity, but vulnerable to the other. You can build power to shoot lock-on lasers by absorbing same-polarity bullets as well. Additionally, you can do "chains" by destroying three enemies of the same polarity in a row. This is the basis for how Ikaruga plays out.
The game's price has dropped somewhat over the years with the inclusion of the GameCube release (it was originally an Arcade and Dreamcast release) and Xbox Live Arcade release (get the XBLA game if you can for a great deal), so if you're looking for a time to get a copy, now is a pretty good time to do so. Some games by "Treasure" have a little "staying power" when it comes to their price. This game is considered the spiritual sequel to Radiant Silvergun. Enjoy.
NOTE: The view in this video was modified by taking more advantage of the "Vertical 2" display designed for "vertical" TVs. I don't have a Vertical T.V., so playing the game was a little disorientating (it looks normal, but I was playing it with enemies coming from the right and left), but I wanted to play the game with a full screen resolution in mind. The footage was cut and edited to make things look upright like it would on a vertical screen, though I still had to stretch the display a little to achieve this.